Burger in Berlin: Marienburger

I know, I was SO enthusiastic about the burgers at The Bird, but then I went back a couple of months ago and experienced the worst case of food poisoning I’ve ever had to suffer through. It wasn’t the burger, of that I’m sure, so it must have been a particularly napalmy ‘napalm wing’; none of my co-diners (one of whom was barely one years old) suffered any ill effects, so I’m sure it was a weird fluke, an occasional side effect of taking pleasure in food. Still, for me it meant a time-out, a chance to explore what else is on Berlin’s hamburger horizon.

After perusing your exciting recommendations here on the blog and on Facebook, we tried the burgers at BBI (Berlinburger International), which turned out to be a charming hole in the wall down in Neukölln. We sat outside, trying to place the more outlandish outfits on the slippery spectrum between accidental and intentional hipsterism, and the burgers were fine, just fine; a little on the thin and dry side perhaps, but tasty enough. Nothing to shout about on this blog though, unlike your second recommendation: Prenzlauer Berg’s Marienburger.

Neuland Chilli-Cheeseburger with fries

How could I have overlooked such delicious burgers in my own Postleitzahl! The tiny spot was very busy for lunch, so my friend, her dog, and I had to wait a little bit for seats to open up at the long tables outside after we had ordered our Neuland burgers. The wait was worth it though, with the (completely unartisanal) fries up to the crispy standard of the Dutch and the beautifully proportioned burgers themselves perfectly medium rare (without us having to ask!) and tasty. The jalapenos on my chilli cheese-burger gave mine a lovely punch, while my friend’s had a nice bit of arugula crunch to it. You don’t get as much meat or as many fries as at The Bird, but then one doesn’t always need to, does one, and the prices are very friendly indeed (a Neuland hamburger is €4,70, fries €1,60). There’s no doubt I’ll be back as soon as my burger craving kicks in again. Now, where should we go next?

I honestly can’t understand the hype about Marienburger. I’ve given it so many chances and it’s just so incredibly average that it is becoming comical to see how many blogs consider it Berlin’s best burger. Surely there has to be better…

Basti on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 – 4:03 pm

Well, there is no such thing as “The best of…” this or that. It s obviously all a matter of personal taste, so just don’t give much about “Best of” Blogs or recommendations! Don’ believe the hype!!!

People sure get feisty about their burgers! I think it is one of those difficult foods for a restaurant to perfect because you can make such a good burger at home. I love them all, and am happy to get a few more recommendations.

I have to agree with anon – Marienburger might use high-quality Neuland meat, but the factory-pressed patties out of the freezer just do not do it for me. The texture is not right, the meat not juicy at all. I feel like most of these burger places just boast about how many crazy toppings they can put on one burger…so many, that you can’t even taste the meat anymore!

Marienburger is tasty but, I have to say I am always way too stuffed afterwards- they are simply to big for me and than I feel sick.
The best burgers in Berlin are at the new Markthalle in Kreuzberg- really!!!
The buns, the meat the sauce- okay, its not a traditional burger burger but it is even better and simply delicious- try these: https://www.facebook.com/bigstuffsmokedbbqberlin

My new favourite is Rembrant Burger in Richard-Sorge-Strasse, Friedrichshain, close to Tilsiter Lichtspiele, which is a charming small indie kino. In Rembrant Burger they serve juicy Neuland Burgers with home made fries. With one euro extra you can have them made of sweet potatoes. They also have Dutch style currywurst, frikandel. It was a novelty to me, but I can recommend it too.

Emotions are flaring! Everyone has their personal preference when it comes to Hamburgers. I couldn’t live in a city with just one amazing burger joint. Variety is what makes life interesting. I’ve been to Hamburger Heaven once, but never got to try their food. The staff was so rude we decided to go somewhere else. We asked (in German) whether we could order our burgers and go for a 20 min walk and come back to pick them up. (Since they said it would be 30 min for the burgers). The guy just blurted out that he was really busy and couldn’t accomodate “our every wish”. So we just walked away. Maybe one I’ll go back.

awfully mediocre burger. not sure why one would cut up fresh meat daily and then freeze it. let’s keep the hockey pucks in the rink, not on my plate. for me it’s the bird, followed by hamburger heaven. i’ve eaten a million different burgers from a million different places in my life. being an all american boy i can tell you, marienburger is hardly anything to write home about. good fries, though! :)

i cannot understand why everyone keeps raving about this place! because most berliners have yet to understand a truly outstanding burger? i live directly around the corner so i occasionally succumb to ordering from them (when i’m trying to appease a hangover with fat, meat and cheese) but it’s never good. let alone exceptional. their patties are pre-pressed and come frozen, their house sauce is strangely sweet and the lettuce, onion and tomato? is served under the meat… THEY’RE CALLED TOPPINGS FOR A REASON PEOPLE!

Mary Scherpe on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 – 12:25 pm

I must admit, Florian and I are on different terms in this case. I personally am not a big fan as well. But I also know that Florian is not the only one loving it.